Eighth day of hostilities in Nagorno-Karabakh.
New strikes, followed by explosions, rocked the main city of the independence region, Stepanakert, on Sunday (October 4th), in the grip of a conflict between Armenian separatists and Azerbaijani forces, according to AFP journalists.
Warning sirens sounded around 9:30 am in the city, just before the explosions multiplied.
The Azerbaijani authorities, for their part, said they had taken "retaliatory measures" after rocket fire by Armenian separatists from Stepanakert.
The night before, during a televised address, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pachinian said that Armenia is facing "perhaps the most decisive moment in its history", referring to the conflict in Nagorno Karabakh, where Yerevan-backed separatists fight Azerbaijani soldiers.
A "national prayer for Nagorno Karabakh and its defenders" also took place in the evening in all the churches of Armenia and its diaspora.
Azerbaijan's second city, Gandja, is "under fire" by Armenian forces, the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry announced on Sunday in a message posted on Twitter.
Authorities in the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karbakh claim to have destroyed a military airport there.
For his part, Azerbaijani presidency adviser Hikmet Hajiyev tweeted a video, describing the "result of Armenia's massive missile attacks against dense residential areas" in the city of Gadnja.
"Azerbaijan retains its right to take adequate measures against legitimate military targets to defend civilians and impose peace on Armenia. 4 new missiles have just hit Gandja," he wrote.
Results of Armenia's massive missile attacks against dense residential areas in Ganja city.
Azerbaijan retains its right to take adequate measures against legitimate military targets to defend civilians and enforce Armenia to peace.
4 new missile just hit Ganja.
pic.twitter.com/GInYCJyJc6
- Hikmet Hajiyev (@HikmetHajiyev) October 4, 2020
More than 240 dead, according to official report
On Saturday, on the seventh day of hostilities in this region that Azerbaijan seeks to reconquer, the Armenian Ministry of Defense assured that the separatist troops had repelled a massive attack.
The soldiers of Nagorno Karabakh "have destroyed a large military grouping", announced Chouchan Stepanian, an Armenian military spokesperson.
But Yerevan also formalized the death of 51 additional soldiers of the Nagorno-Karabakh army, bringing the official toll of the clashes to more than 240 dead.
But impossible for the moment to authenticate it, each camp says to have inflicted losses on the other.
For its part, Azerbaijan has announced that it has reconquered the strategically important village of Madaguiz, which controls the road connecting Armenia to Karabakh.
In a press conference, Azerbaijani presidency adviser Hikmat Hajiyev reiterated the government's position in Bakur: there will be no ceasefire until Armenian troops withdraw from the territories. occupied in Azerbaijan.
According to our correspondent, Ludovic de Foucaud, the Attorney General was present at this conference.
The latter said that Azerbaijan had opened two investigations for war crimes.
Indeed, Baku accuses Yerevan of systematically targeting civilian populations.
Conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh: details from our correspondent, Ludovic de Foucaud
01:23
To the question: Does Azerbaijan want military involvement from its Turkish ally, the president's adviser replies in the negative.
According to him, if Azerbaijan recognizes and validates Turkey's solidarity and loyalty, no country should get involved in the conflict, the Azerbaijani army being self-sufficient.
On the Armenian side, all means are being mobilized to protect the inhabitants of Nagorno-Karabakh.
Reservists and volunteers presented themselves en masse on Sunday in front of a recruiting office in Yerevan, according to the findings of our special envoy, Gulliver Cragg.
But the mobilization goes far beyond.
Under the flags of Armenia and Karabakh, prominently in the center of the Armenian capital, collections of clothing and food are organized.
Among donors, citizens, but also businesses.
Nagorno-Karabakh: Armenians mobilize to support the enclave
01:41
With AFP
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